Travis Vader's lawyer says new suspects will be named as murder trial begins in Edmonton court

The first degree-murder trial of Travis Vader for the killings of an elderly St. Albert couple who vanished in 2010 began Tuesday with legal bombshells from both sides.

In dramatic opening statements, both the Crown and defence fired their first volleys in what is expected to be a protracted courtroom battle over the next five weeks.

Crown prosecutor Jim Stewart told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas that the evidence will establish that both Vader’s blood and DNA and the blood of victims Lyle and Marie McCann were found in the McCanns’ SUV which was found “stashed” in the woods.

Stewart then told court that cellphone records, seized evidence and witness testimony will link Vader to the crime and said his denials to police about having any involvement just point the finger more directly at him.

The prosecutor conceded the Crown does not know exactly what happened to the McCanns after surveillance cameras show them leaving a Superstore in St. Albert with groceries about 10 a.m. on July 3, 2010.

“We do know that they both met with significant violence and that they are now dead,” said Stewart, adding the Crown also knows Vader was driving their SUV and using their cellphone very recently after the items were taken.

“The DNA evidence found on and in the McCanns’ SUV, coupled with Mr. Vader’s bald assertions of having nothing to do with the McCanns or their property, eliminates any innocent explanation,” he said. “The only reasonable inference arising from the facts that we expect to prove is that Mr. Vader murdered Lyle and Marie McCann.”

Defence lawyer Brian Beresh accused both the RCMP and the Crown of suffering from “tunnel vision” in their obsessive pursuit of Vader, 44, and said his client has been through a “personal nightmare” and is looking forward to clearing his name and lifting the “cloak of suspicion” cast upon him “without just cause.”

Beresh told the judge the trial will reveal a “negligent and inept investigation” by police resulting in lost evidence and said the defence will call expert witnesses who will raise questions about the blood, DNA and fingerprint evidence that is allegedly linked to Vader.

He said the defence will also attack the cellphone evidence as well as the testimony of some civilian witnesses whom he suggested are criminals involved in the drug world whose evidence would be unreliable.

Beresh also said there is no proof the McCanns are dead and that no evidence of human remains was ever found.

“The best that can be said is that they disappeared … and nothing more,” he said.

“The defence believes that this case will reveal that Mr. Vader became publicly the #1 villain and that interest in him was fuelled, not only by false information received by the RCMP, but also by unscrupulous acts of providing false information to the media whose sole purpose was to generate evidence against him,” said Beresh.

“The prime focus became quickly solving the crime, convicting the villain and closing the file,” he said. “The position of the defence at this trial is that, unfortunately, the authorities picked the wrong villain and, as a result, the prosecution is now left with a series of loose strings which even the most talented weaver could not weave together to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The Crown opening statement noted Lyle McCann was a 78-year-old former truckdriver, his wife Marie was a 77-year-old homemaker and the longtime St. Albert couple had been married for 58 years with three children, five grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

“The McCanns were good people, the centre of a loving extended family enjoying the twilight of their lives,” said Stewart.

On July 3, 2010, they gassed up their motorhome, bought groceries at Superstore and headed on their way for a camping vacation in B.C. to visit with relatives.

“They were never heard from again,” said Stewart.

On July 5, 2010, the motorhome was found ablaze and abandoned at a campground by Minnow Lake near Edson. Five days later, when they failed to pick up their daughter Trudy in Abbotsford, they were reported missing.

The RCMP connected the McCanns’ disappearance to the burned motorhome and began investigating, including getting the couples’ cellphone records.

The 2006 Hyundai Tucson SUV they were towing was initially unaccounted for, but on July 16, 2010, it was found in a remote wooded area about 30 km east of Edson.

The Crown told court police found in the SUV several cans of food that had blood spatter from Marie McCann on them and a hat that Lyle McCann had been wearing that had a bullethole in it and had both his blood spatter on it and Vader’s DNA.

As well, police found Vader’s DNA on a different hat belonging to Lyle, his DNA and a fingerprint on a can of Boxer beer left in the cupholder, his blood on the centre armrest and on the front passenger seat and his DNA on the steering wheel and a tissue found on the floor.

Stewart also told court that cellphone records show that the McCanns’ cellphone was used to make calls and texts to a woman who was Vader’s girlfriend at the time and she identifies him as being the author of the texts.

Court also heard that an associate of Vader’s saw him twice on July 3, 2010, first driving a stolen pickup and having no money, and then later driving the same type and colour of SUV as the McCanns’ and having money.

Police later recovered the pickup, which Stewart said Vader had unsuccessfully tried to set on fire, and the keys to the McCanns’ SUV were found in the bed of the truck.

The prosecutor also told court about Vader, saying he had once been a successful operator in the oilpatch industry who provided for his wife and seven children.

“By July 2010, Travis Vader had squandered it all away,” said Stewart, adding he was heavily involved in the crystal meth subculture, living apart from his family and staying in wooded makeshift camps in the McKay area and on the run with several outstanding warrants for his arrest.

Vader was first charged with the killings in April 2012, but the charges were stayed in March 2014, just a few weeks before the case was to go before a jury, when the Crown realized the RCMP hadn’t disclosed all evidence in the case. The charges were re-laid on Dec. 19, 2014.

On Jan. 26, Thomas denied a defence application to have the charge against Vader judicially stayed following a lengthy abuse of process hearing.

Thomas said the decision was a “very close call,” but ruled the public’s confidence in the administration of justice requires Vader to be tried for the alleged slayings.

In his written ruling, the judge cited an “obvious and serious failure in the disclosure process” by the RCMP, but ruled the “bungling” was unintentional and not an abuse of process. He also rejected a defence argument that there had been an “unreasonable delay” in the case.

As Advertised in the Edmonton SUN

Travis Vader's lawyer says new suspects will be named as murder trial begins in Edmonton court